I am often asked if LED lamps will "work in the snow". Well I am here now with the evidence to show that the answer to this question is a definite:

YES! LED lamps will 'work in the snow'. :clapping:

Now keep in mind that my situation here is not typical and results will vary depending upon climatic conditions. :laugh:

Lite4

01-23-2009, 02:23 PM

Good grief that is a lot of snow! I was up in Sun Valley yesterday interviewing for a job and I thought they had a lot of snow at 2' deep. That is just insane James. Hope you are staying dug out.

INTEGRA Bespoke Lighting

01-23-2009, 02:38 PM

Tim, from what I understand they don't have nearly this much snow in Jamaica! I will know for sure next week. :)

Lite4

01-23-2009, 02:50 PM

Ahhhhh,............Jamaica. Sounds VERY nice this time of year, have a great time mon!

David Gretzmier

01-24-2009, 12:15 AM

man, that snow is DEEP. I wonder if even a 50 watt halogen could melt through that.

I'll be in the carribean in 2 weeks, ahh, warm weather.

Pro-Scapes

01-24-2009, 10:39 AM

is that a kichler fixture i see ? Redefines "frosted lens" doesnt it. I have a hard time imagining even a halogen would melt thru that pile. And here I am worried about pine pollen and leaves.

Lite4

01-24-2009, 02:06 PM

I am actually surprised it is working. You would think there is enough heat generated by the diode to test the waterproof nature of that fixture and the internal components. Unless the soil is really sandy then the melted snow (water) would disipate quite well.

LightYourNight

01-24-2009, 02:59 PM

most of that snow must have fallen at night when the lights were on.

INTEGRA Bespoke Lighting

01-24-2009, 07:26 PM

man, that snow is DEEP. I wonder if even a 50 watt halogen could melt through that.

I'll be in the carribean in 2 weeks, ahh, warm weather.

Dave, not even a 50W halogen will melt a hole up through 4 feet of snow. I have tried. Once the snow gets over 24" deep or so what you end up with is a chimney, basically a 2-3" dia hole directly above the fixture. If you get a bit of snow it will melt as it falls, but when you get 6"+ per storm, ground based fixtures don't really stand a chance.

My clients have come to expect that their lighting systems do not look the same in the middle of the winter as they do in the summer. Here at my home, I actually trudge around through the snow and dig out the fixtures so that they do their job.

Regards.

INTEGRA Bespoke Lighting

01-24-2009, 07:32 PM

is that a kichler fixture i see ? Redefines "frosted lens" doesnt it. I have a hard time imagining even a halogen would melt thru that pile. And here I am worried about pine pollen and leaves.

Good eye on you Billy... yes that is a kichler fixture. I have a bunch of stuff that I have pulled out installed here at my home. It isn't what I would put in for a client, but it does ok here.

I will take some snap shots of what the uplighting looks like along my drive through the snow there... it is not quite 4' deep, maybe about 3' there... and it looks quite cool to see the snow all around the uplights glowing.

INTEGRA Bespoke Lighting

01-24-2009, 07:34 PM

I am actually surprised it is working. You would think there is enough heat generated by the diode to test the waterproof nature of that fixture and the internal components. Unless the soil is really sandy then the melted snow (water) would disipate quite well.

The LED lamps are operating at around 40 Deg. C. That makes enough heat to melt the snow as it falls onto the fixture when it is on, but large drops of snow during the day tend to bury any uplights. Then when the lights come on at night they melt the snow around the fixture. When you dig them out you find a cavity in the snow pile, usually about 6-8" in dia. all around the fixture. They seem to like it in there!

David Gretzmier

01-25-2009, 01:14 AM

I'm wondering what they look like buries under a few inches of snow at night- can you see the lights under the snow? I imagine it makes the snow "glow"

INTEGRA Bespoke Lighting

01-25-2009, 03:36 PM

David, if you only have a few inches of snow then they will easily melt that snow all around the fixture and function as normal uplights do. It is only once you get well over a foot of snow and when the snow falls in large amounts do the light get buried and create the "snow glow" that you envision. I will try to remember to take some snap shots around here tonight. (We got dumped on Saturday night... 12" of fresh powder in about 5 hours)